Tuesday, 9 June 2009

Stuff...and...Giveaway, YAY!!!

Since the Fair, I've been taking it easy on the crafting front by which I mean I've errrm, done nothing. It's been all gardening, cooking and the steps makeover, of course. I was so busy making things in the run up to the Fair, (and when I get started making something, I get a bit obsessed with it to the exclusion of all those other more mundane things I should be doing, Mr HH and the Munchkin are nodding wisely and tutting at this point), that I was almost scared to dip my toe back in the obsessively crafty water again. However, with the half-term holiday behind us, I am going back to my crochet class again and I've been a bit bored with crochet, wanting to try something new. So, the new project got under way this morning. I crocheted a sample piece and then launched myself into my latest cushion cover (cannot commit myself to the time needed to make a blanket, I'm afraid...) Hmm, but I don't think it's quite as I want it to be so I see frogging in my future.

Then there are books. I haven't bought many books for a while (let's just gloss over Bazaar Style because I bought that at the same time so it effectively doesn't count, yes?) and I do like a new one and a bit of new inspiration every now and then. And so "Thrifty Chic" landed on the doorstep. I've had nothing but a very quick flick at the moment. Sometimes, the excitement of getting the book is almost more exciting than it actually being here! I want to prolong the anticipation of devouring the new book fully so I often end up taking my time really getting to grips with it. Nuts? Or are some of you like that too? Oh go on, say yes. Pleeeease...

Then it was time to sew again. In a few weeks, we have something quite exciting on the cards to attend, something we've not been a part of before. It's a retro thing, too. So, I have spent many an hour on the 'net trying to research this period in time and being scared by the price of vintage sewing patterns. In the end, I went to my local sewing shop instead and picked something which I think (hope) has a vintage vibe. I'm telling myself it's all about the hair, make-up and accessories, anyway. No idea how I do the hair, of course but we'll talk about that another day, perhaps? Some of you out there might be experts in this sort of thing. (Fingers crossed.)

(This is about as messy as it gets for me. And yes, it will all be tidied away before the end of the day. OCD and all that!)

That's the dress in two halves, hanging on the ironing board. I have actually sewn it together now and am currently having button angst. I can't help thinking vintage buttons are called for but I don't think any of the ones I have really "go" and I need 6 and I'm the sort of person who has weird numbers of buttons; generally not 6, of course. Why is it that with a whole drawer full of buttons, all prettily and sensibly ordered by colour, I never seem to have just what I want? Indeed, Mr HenHouse really cannot understand this. You understand this, though, don't you, my friends?

GIVEAWAY! Yes, let's give this waffley post some purpose. Let's have a giveaway because it's been ages, hasn't it? It has been great both to cyber-meet lots of lovely like-minded folk through my blog and to meet quite a few of you in the flesh at the Fair. Recently, I've received comments from some newcomers which is always nice, much as I treasure my hardened blogging pals, you're all tops. Looking at the stats though, there are lots of you lurking out there and I want to encourage you to come forward! Come on, don't be shy, you know you want to! What about the prize, you're thinking, is it worth entering? I thought rather than deciding on a prize now, once we've got a winner, the winner and I can have a chat and depending upon what you, the winner, likes, we'll go from there. But you know the sorts of things I make and yes, it will be handmade.

So, comment away people. To make it a bit interesting and in case you really are shy and don't know what to say, I thought we'd have a question, but it's optional, answer it if you choose. Possibly because of the retro clothing, because of course, I love vintage (and lots of you do, too), possibly because of watching Ashes to Ashes last night...

If you could go back in time, what era would you go back to and why?

It doesn't have to be an essay, the more frivolous the better, actually. I'm thinking, "I'd like to go back to the '50's because all the ladies were so glam and beautiful and the dresses were fab-u-lous." Yes, in fact, I'd just like to be Audrey Hepburn, if you don't mind. But I know you can do better than that!

Let's make draw time next Monday as I'm whisking my other half away for his birthday (yes, just the two of us!!!) towards the end of next week, so we can get it all wrapped up by then.

I've always dreamed of being a farmer's wife at the turn of the 19th century, with a dairy and hens, and lots of stockings to knit and linen to spin (and maids to help me!) - like Mrs Poyser in the novel Adam Bede by George Eliot. Dream on!

Hello Hen, I love the fabric for the dress and in answer to your question I think I would have loved to been a 40's girl ...I'm often told I look like I should be in the Land Army as I wear my some overalls inherited from that era when on my allotment ! If you're still looking for crochet inspiration and have time to follow the link on my latest post, you're sure to be inspired . Thanks for doing a "giveaway " too!

I'd like to go back in time to the early 19th century. It would be fabulous to wear gorgeous gowns all the time and live in a sprawling mansion and have acres of beautiful gardens. And, of course... my husband would be an inventor... and we would definitely have indoor plumbing. hehe

Well, I'd like to have been involved in the whole Pre-Raphaelite thing. I like the way they looked back to the Middle Ages, and I also like the way they interpreted that sort of style into a new way of living which set aside some of the formality of the Victorian era. And I think my hair would do the right thing and I'd look good in the dresses! Thanks for such a nice giveaway.

I think I would like to join you in the '50s! I don't want to go back too far and I would rather live in a small town where everyone knows each other and I can walk to the library! I love everything you make so I would be THRILLED To win! Thank you! And I'm like you...I get everything out for a project but then I have to neaten it up to continue!

For me it would have to be 1981.I was at my happiest then and every thing seemed really glamourous to me. I was obsessed with Heart to Heart and I wanted to be Stephanie Powers. My parents had a proper sit at on pub stools mini bar in the living room, and they always seem to be having posh parties or card evenings, and ladies back then wore long dresses to parties.

I am definitely not skinny enough to wear those beautifully tailored suits of the 40s and 50s, although I do love them. I am very much a Victorian girl at heart, really, I love collecting all manner of things ( the Victorians were such great collectors ), I love the opulence and over-the-topness ( is that a word, lol? , the total eccentricity, the rooms crammed full of the most wonderfully ornate furniture, the amazing dresses and fantastic hats, the balls, sigh, the wonderful balls, the beautiful manners, just everything, sigh. Did I get somewhat carried away there?

I love all your beautifully made treasures, it would be very difficult to pick a favourite.

Having been fascinated - well erm onsessed - with all things Robin Hood as a youngster (Michael Praed & Jason Connery in Robin of Sherwood are to blame!), it would have to be the late 12th century for me. Give me a stone manor house, plenty of horses, a few knights in shining armour and I'd be in heave. And nothing better to do all day than sit about stitching, taking care of guests and making sure the place looked nice. I could manage that - oh yes, I'd be a noble's daughter, none of that peasant chic for me!

I think that I would choose to go back to the fifties (I would be in my late teens), then I could enjoy the sixties in my twenties and the seventies in my thirties.....what an experience it would be!PS - yes, I am a greedy woman who could not choose just one decade! x

I was born mid fifties - spent my formative in the sixties, I remember the acid colours, the swirls and circles and the Mini Skirts - which I was NOT allowed to have. Mother was old fashioned and expected me to dress like her!:-o I remember the glamrock of the seventies and the big shoulders and hair - (I had the big hair!) of the eighties.......The era I love is the thirties Art-Deco, the Bakelite the sharpe corners and straight lines in designs, the music of the Big Bands,the Hats, the elegant clothing, the geometry of it all, the embroidery, oh I could go on and on and on..........but you did say it didn't have to be and essay!

Can't wait to see what you've done with that dress. In the past I've made a victorian costume with a bustle at the back including the corset which I wore for our towns annual Christmas Victorian Market,(I worked in a shop, just incase you thought I was a fruitloop who just wore it for the hell of it!)

And for a fancy dress party I made a 'pride and prejudice' gown from a £5 pair of charity shop curtains. I like a challenge. lol!

If I could go back in time, I think it would have to be the 1940s, I like the make do and mend mentality... and the bright red lippy!

Hello Hen,I think if I could go back it would be either the 40s or 50s, I love films of those eras, and of course the glam of the 50s!! I think your new dress looks lovely from what I can see of it, looking forward to seeing the finished product! X

Though I love the Flapper dresses, I don't think i've got the right figure for them, I'm more of a fifties girl,definately a pretty dress with a full skirt,red lippy! My friends who don't craft and bake think I should've lived in this era!On the book thing,i get all excited about waiting for a book madly flick through it when it arrives,then I don't attempt any projects until weeks later!Rachel x

It has to be the 1920's for me, I had a 20's style wedding dress! I love the flapper dresses, the bob hairstyle, the cloche hats, the cigarette holders, the music!! Maybe I'm alone in this but the 50's doesn't do it for me as much!! Salx

Oh my goodness, that's a hard question for there are so many vintage styles to choose from. But I suppose it would be that era from say 1900 to 1920. The clothes were beautifully tailored with fiddly pintucks down the fronts of blouses and lace edgings with lovely embroidered details and poufy sleeves cuffed with gorgeous lace and cumberbunds and bows and marvelouse HATS! High buttoned boots and parasols. All dressed up for tea and biscuits!

I love the 1920's era. Cloche hats, bobbed hair, and fringed charleston dresses. In fact, if I marry again would like to wear a calf length cream silk beaded dress, with a matching cloche hat, and cream 'Mary Jane' shoes! How perfectly elegant! ( I have the figure for it too, being not a very busty person!!Love the era, and the art deco style too!

I live near Cambridge and ever since I was little I have wanted to go back in time - perhaps Victorian? To see the amazing houses used as family homes rather than the student flats they have now been divided into. Don't get me wrong - I only want to be a fly on the wall!!

Hey Hen, i love everything you make, so clever! Would love to be in with a chance of winning. My fave era would be the 40', do you remember goodnight sweetheart with Nicholas lyndhurst? I loved all that understated glamour, seamed tights being a luxury during the war! Hmmm, how lucky are we to have it so easy now??...Kirsty x

I've been reading your blog for ages and not commented yet - you've managed to entice me into my first comment!!

I think I'd like to go back to the 20's - I'd particularly like to meet my grandad in that era. Before he died he told me som many amazing stories about growing up as a Cockney in the East End so I'd love to see what it was like.

Hi Hen! Well, I would like to live in the 1860s or onward, the time frame of the Little House on the Prairie series, in the American midwest. I want to be self-sufficient, out in the open fields, shopping for calico at the general store once every couple months, and spending the long winters inside with the family doing useful crafting! To think of how far 10 cents would have gone ...

I would love to have experienced the 1930s and 40s during the war. I must have been so terrifying yet exciting at the same time. Also, Georgian England would be great too. All those fabulous outfits and the wigs! :-)

Hi there I think the victorian era for me too, I would love to live in one of those big houses with maids and a butler! Oooh and the lovely long dresses with lace and wonderful materials, and lots of time to sit in the Walled garden admiring the beauty that the gardeners had created while keeping myself busy spending my days crocheting, knitting and embroidering! I do think I would miss my laptop though! I would love a chance to win one of your fabulous creations, but it would be as hard to pick a prize as it was to pick an era!!Moe http://seaweedrosesandwool.blogspot.com

Hi Hen, I'd love to win something of yours!!! Everything you make is top notch!I would go back to ancient Egypt! But only if I was a princess, of course. I have always been fascinated by the history, the monuments, the culture etc... I think it would be an amazing experience. I'm having a giveaway too - pop on over, Kathryn. XX

Coming out of lurkdom to say that I always wanted to live in the era of the crinoline. Mind you, I would have a lot of trouble cleaning the house with one but that thought didn't occur to me for ages. Even better would have been to be born when girls didn't have to go to school and especially when they weren't expected to play sports.

Oh giveaways are so much fun aren't they. I have always secretly thought I would have loved to have been a flapper girl in the twenties. You know, the charleston, those gorgeous dresses and the men dressed up with their capes and gloves, with a little convertable of course.

Now, as a costumer, I have a hard time picking a time. I love the flapper era and have the hair for it, but 50s dresses knock my socks off and the sixties - well, I wear a lot of that...should I have confessed? Yikes! Thanks for a fun giveaway...I hope I win because I love your handmade goodies oh so much! Kelly

I would go back to the late 1800's when my house would have been brand new,and before our previous owners added the horrid 1980's extension! "Corset me up, Maisie, and I'll take my tea in the morning room..."!

I'm one of your regular lurkers, so I'm leaving a comment to say I'm here.

I'd definitely pick the lovely flapper fashions of the 1920s please, or the rockabilly 1950s for the circle skirts (I did the 1980s first time round). I've just invested in a hugely expensive pattern for a 1920 Monte Carlo flapper dress, but am put off by 4m cut on the bias. I must be braver!

Hi Hen! Your den is very nice and cosy, even when it is messy!Thanks for the opportunity to win some of your lovely stuff!Ooohhh...I would go back to the 19th century, live in Paris on Montmartre Hill...wear mustache, a black beret ans suspenders..and paint beautiful Impressionist paintings! ...actually I can't neither draw!Have a nice day, full of inspiration for your crafts!

Oh, looking forward to seeing what you are making. I'm immersed in the 1950's, sewing madly for a 50's ball in a couple of weeks and what fabulous fashions they were. So maybe I'd go back to then and be impossibly glamourous (well one can dream!).

I think I would like to go bak to victorian times, just to be able to swan about in a crinoline dress and sit about sewing all day! - Good luck withe the vintage pattern, can't wait to see the finished result - Natalie x p.s.- your workspace looks so pretty

I'd like to go back to the turn of the century too 19th to 20th that is. Live a rural life...I'd probably be employed as a spinner or weaver...just as long as they had some sort of washing machine by then, I DO NOT want to have to do laundry with a scrub board! At least when I handstitch I feel connected to that time period :)Smiles, DianeM

It would have to be WWII... amidst all the tragedy and hardship.. people 'made do' and frienships thrived due to a strong community spirit.. something sadly lacking in many parts..I also adore Fairisle knits.. and tea dresses... as seen in the film Edge of Love.. romance was alive and kicking!

Hello, I am one of your lurkers coming out of the woodworks. Thank you for such a wonderful giveaway. There are too many eras that I wished I lived in - pioneering America (a la Laura Ingalls), Elizabethan England, the Victorian era, and the 1920's, 1950's and 1960's. All inspired by some wonderful books I have read.

Thats a hard one... I'd like to go back to WWll, make do and mend, fighting for your country etc and like Michele I love the clothes...but then the early 50's are good, a whole new world, things looking up & of course red formica!!!!I can't wait to see where you're going in your vintage dress. My friend who came to the fair makes vintage clothes for people she's fantastic. :)

I would have to say anywhere from late 40's through 50's would be my fave era. I agree the women were so glamorous with their red lipstick & pearls ready to whip up dinner! hahaha. Something about that pos-war era, the music, homes, cars, clothes.....I love it all!

I think it would have to be the glamourous roaring Twenties, with a bit of the early Thirties thrown in. Beautiful. I think I'm another one influenced by the House of Eliott at an early age.And your dress looks intruiging. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished result.Jo

I would love to be in the Roaring 20's with scads of money. All those gorgeous crepe gowns, (with the requisite slim figure of course),lovely cars and champagne. Toddling along to my friends country manor for weekends of gambling, dancing and drinking more champagne!

I'd go back to just post WW23 Britain and be an unmarried twenty something. Everyone was filled with hope and the belief in succeeding. You were told that if you worked really hard you could be anything you wanted. Women had proved themselves to be an essential part of the workforce and that there was no going back where their rights were concerned....and, I'd be there to go to the Festival of Britain!!Lesley XX

I just found your lovely blog today and I must say I really like it a lot. What a wonderful idea this giveaway.I would love to go back to the time when the pioneers came to America. I have always been very facinated by that period of time and I often wondered how live would be then .

Well as you see from my blog the era would have to be the 1940's! all those union jacks, make do and mend and pretty florals. and of course the GI's!!!So I know you have already had 72 comments for this give-away but you never know 'someone' has to win and I may be that someone-you have to be in it to win it as they say!LoveLynxxx

I would go back to the 80's. I was only young but the clothes and the music, the childrens toys and the cartoons.... There's just something about it all ha ha ha it makes me smile and that's what life is all about.

Very good question! My husband reckons I would go ferral if left to my own devices!I would have to be either Barbara from the Good Life in a pair of dungarees and wellies circa 1972 alternatively I would like to be Jim Bob in the Waltons also in a pair of dungarees!

I so agree about Joan Hickson by the way.......I love the one in a house in Devon where there is vintage wallpaper as part of the plot!Can't remember what it was called?

I like the thought of the forties, make do and mend, although not sure about the war but hey!!hope you and mr hh have a nice time away, i thought he looked quite dapper in your fair post, posing on the dodgems! he he!!I've tagged you (im really sorry if you hate these things, im not keen on them) check http://joshyandbelle.blogspot.com/ if you want to see,please can you enter me in your giveaway,felicity xx

"1909 as a child" . . . but to know all that I know now , just as in Ashes to Ashes .

Why ? In 1908 the "Liberty Bodice" was invented,by the time the 1WW broke out millions of girls were free from wearing tight boned stays .At that time though I think the word "Liberty" began to have a wider and deeper meaning , it was the begining , freedom of movement and mind, free to wander and play freely,life simplified by limited choice,but the guidelines kept to. It was the start for women to join "meeting" and clubs, to move freely without a corset,to wear less fabric but still be womenly.

I would love to go back to the 40's and 50's, when ladies wore hats everywhere and of course gloves with their lovely dresses. My grandparents went to the "balls", I even have some of Nana's lovely evening dresses and her gloves - Please count me in on your lovely giveaway!

Let me see ... which past time appeals, purely for the fashion, not for other aspects of those ages.

I was a young adult in the 1960's and still have a fondness for all the costumery regalia that we wore then. Dressing was fun, drawing from then vintage pieces from the 20's and 30's and 40's. Also mixing those up with Indian prints, mini's a la Mary Quant, very odd bell bottomed jeans, lots of eccentricity in jewelry and color. And the hair! There was such freedom to dip into what ever era of the fashion buffet one found.

I really adore clothes from the Edwardian period also. The notion of clothing being sewn by hand and each choice of fabric, button, lace, stitch being carefully considered intrigues me.

Squeak! Me! I wanna enter! Me! Me! Me!Count meeee in! So exciting! I know I don't stand a chance with all those other people entering, but I'm going to try my best to improve my chances!It has to be the fifties for me, ........... it's the colours, the Fair Isles knitting, my rose tinted view of that period. The make do and mend ethos was still around, and I love that. If we were in the future, I think I'd want to be transported back to the last year or so, even to at this moment in time, if that makes sense! The Cath Kidston era!I'm returning from my holiday on that Monday you do the draw, I'll be on tenter hooks!Thanks for doing this exciting giveaway hen.Love Vanessa xxx (do you mind if i knit)

Hi, Another lurker here! Actually I was at the fantastic fair in Chipping Sodbury, I did hover around your stall for a bit hoping to say hello - but think I chose a pretty busy time and for fear of looking like a mad stalker (and the little ones noticing the cupcakes) had to leave you to it!

Hmmmm, regarding era, tough choice. Reckon would have to be 1940's - inspired by the 'swing dress' by Sense and Sensibility retro sewing patterns.

The turn of last century sounds quite good to me. I could perhaps get the chance to be a model for Klimt – always fancied myself as one of the ‘Goldfish’ girls; curvy, confident enough to comfortable in your own skin and a bit cheeky. Well if wishes were fishes……

Definately the JANE AUSTIN era! (there is such a thing right?) I could be very happy with someone drawing me a bath, calling for tea, and sitting beautifully in my silk gown, cat on knee, needlework at hand...

Well, I'm back... I arrived yesterday and read your post, but just couldn't decide which era is my most favourite, but now that i've had a chance to really think.. it has to be the 1920's... just love the neat bobbed hair, gorgeous jewellery, flapper dresses, and of course Poirot and Miss Marple!!! Cream tea on Burgh Island anyone????What a brilliant post, really thought provoking and so many interesting comments

Hope the dress has come together for you... did you consider covering your own buttons to match.. you could have as many as you want then???

Hi Hen, I have to admit that I have been lurking around your blog for a bit now. I love reading about what you make and the gorgeous pictures that you take.If I could go back in time the only one that comes to mind is ancient egypt,lol. I'm not sure if there would be much to see fashion wise but I'm sure it would be quite interesting.

Hi - long time lurker!!! I fancy the 1940's as I always wanted to be one of the girls in airforce blue suits (pencil skirts) pushing things accros a board with a stick!! Weve been loving Ashes to Ashes - hubby sometimes gets to borrow an identical QUatro from the garage that services his car and the young man loves it!!

Good question Hen. It changes with me depending what I'm inspired by, but I very often wish I was an Edwardian lady sort of in the mold of Lilli Langtry - beautiful (!), gorgeous dresses, wonderful hair, elegant.... I could go on!

Ok so when would I go back to well not an era as such but I would love to go back to some time between 1939 - 45 which is of course the time of world war two ( ok so now you think I'm mad eh) I do so admire the "keep calm and carry on", "make do and mend" and solidarity of comunity that was thriving during that time.

Thanks for the fab giveaway oppertunity I do admire your makes. Oh and I promise to comment more often.

Hi Hen, I have popped into your site a few times but haven't left a comment before this. I love all your creations - sooo pretty and inspirational.As far as an era goes well, I think it would have to be Jane Austen. Those long dresses, floor length capes, elegant gloves,and delightful dances not to mention riding in a horse and carriage. Yes, I think I would love it!Sheila

My name is Rachael and I am a lurker! I am also the proud owner of one of your 'Home' cushions from the V & H Fair - I made a beeline for it as soon as the fair opened!

Anyway, I would have to say 1950's as when the husband and I first started seeing each other we went to the Goodwood Revival in a rather nice little sportscar and I wore a 1950's dress and jacket and had a fab day.

Otherwise any period when I could wear a tiara for most of the day would suffice.

Rent Lilac Cottage

My Den

About Me

Hello and thank you for visiting the HenHouse. I'm a stay-at-home thirty-something mum looking after Mr HenHouse and the Munchkin, aged 13 (going on 18). We also have a gorgeous and very spoiled ginger tom, Charlie Boy. Sadly we had to say goodbye to our two other furry boys this year. We have recently moved from the city to our dream home in the West Country. I have always loved vintage and have collections of eiderdowns, china and fabrics to name just a few. I love sewing and am an avid patchworker and quilter. As a family, we are dotty about the past and love the 1940s, often dressing up for re-enactment events. To fund my fabric habit, I sell handmade items in my Etsy shop. I'm pretty nutty about interiors, too and our homes have been featured in various magazines.